Fading
by TyrantFlame
Summary: Straight Cougar is fading away. When, nobody knows. An 'angel' was sent to him to ease his pain, but will it be too late before she does? CougarOC. CHAPTER 5 UP! READ AND REVIEW, PLEASE!
1. Stories from the past

Fading – chapter 1

I don't own sCRYed. I just own this story. SUNRISE gets the credit for creating the cool anime. P

My first sCRYed fic. No flames please… and this is a treat for all those ex-readers of mine so everyone will know that I am still alive. No people, I'm not dead. Just so you all know, I haven't lost my touch in fanfiction-ing so, I hope everyone will enjoy this little sCRYed inspired story I'm writing to celebrate my comeback!

The story happens somewhere around the anime time-line, before Cougar starts popping up more frequently, proving himself to be quite an important character and shocking everyone with the fact that he's Kazuma's big bro. OO;; Trust me, up till this day, I still have problems believing this bit of news.

Oh, just a mini note for everyone; Cougar has quite a role in here, since the poor guy hasn't got much love in the anime… So, anyone who is a Cougar-hater, please, don't bother reading unless you're on the brink of liking him. D

Just a fair warning to everyone; I'm sorry for any OOC-ness that you may encounter.

Read it and like it. Drop a review if you're nice enough. XD

HOLY HQ

Day by day, more Native Alters were brought back from the undeveloped areas to the extent that it was quite worrying to know how many Native Alters who were mostly punks have been living amongst other people and causing trouble, one way or another. Either way, these Native Alters are taken into HOLY's headquarters and would be put to work as a new recruit in the organization.

Today, one of the Native Alters that they caught was quite a find.

She was just like any of the Inner punks you'd find littering the Lost Ground, what with her article of clothing, her colorful swear words and undeniably short temper, not to mention being very aggressive when cornered.

Her shoulder-length copper hair was let loose and was currently untamed due to her very recent brawl with Ryuho, one of HOLY's finest members. Though she had exhausted her Alter power by rebuilding her broken Alter numerous times continuously on end, she was still fighting claw and tooth to get free, biting or just simply scratching her way to freedom. This little 'war' she waged had gone on for around 10 minutes…

And they were just near the entrance. Even the Dars unit was almost exhausted by her alone. For some reason, her attitude reminded Ryuho of a very hateful Native Alter; Kazuma. Her lavender-colored eyes burned into Ryuho's crimson ones when she screamed,

"I'll make you pay for this! You HOLY snobs aren't going to make me kneel down to you!" Ryuho remained silent at the string of swear words that she unleashed upon him, and the threats she threw in barrages at him just gave him a migraine.

A blue-haired girl by the name Scheris Adjani appeared in the scene, feeling sorry for all the vocabulary abuse Ryuho was taking in. Tagging along behind her was Straight Cougar, forever indulged in one book or another. He heard the racket and said, without looking up from his book,

"A pretty loud catch you've got today. She kinda reminds you of someone, doesn't she?" he glanced sideways at the shorter young man, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. Ryuho heaved a sigh,

"You have no idea…"

Just then, their wild little rogue looked up and upon seeing the three near the elevator area, let out a war cry, freeing herself from the Dars' Alters and dashed towards the three HOLY members at full speed. Scheris hid behind Ryuho for cover, Ryuho was just about to summon Zetsuei when she jumped and planted a well-aimed and well-executed drop kick in an unsuspecting Cougar's face,

"COUGAR YOU IDIOT! YOU SAID YOU'D COME VISIT EVERY TWO MONTHS AND I DON'T EVEN GET A FRIGGIN' LETTER OUT OF YOU! Talk about forgetful! Take this!" she then proceeded to stomp on the poor guy, knocking the wind out of him while he pinched his bleeding nose in an attempt to stem the flow.

The scene would have been hilarious if only she wasn't considered an intruder in the building. Zetsuei instantly picked her up with its two ribbons and constricted her easily, making sure it was also covering her mouth to shut her up.

She continued to wriggle and writhe in Zetsuei's grip as she was being carried away, shouting muffled abuses through Zetsuei's ribbon.

Scheris knelt down next to the red-head and poked him in the side, "Hey, you still alive?" she only got a pained grunt in response, which was good enough for her.

In the cafeteria

"Ow-ow-ow! Watch it! That hurt!" Cougar cried as Scheris pressed a bandage onto a cut on his nose. The blue-haired girl sighed and leaned back to look at her handiwork. Well… it wasn't the best patch job to ever exist, but at least it would prevent someone from dying from a nosebleed…

"You should thank your lucky stars you're still alive and breathing. From the looks of her just now, she could've killed you," Scheris said lightly as she took a sip of her orange juice, leaving Cougar to press an ice pack to the bruise on his cheek, "Do you know her? She did call you by your name, didn't she?" the blue-haired girl questioned, propping an elbow up on the table and resting her chin in her palm as she watched Cougar scratch his uninjured cheek absent-mindedly, eyebrows knitted, searching for an answer from his messed-up memory cabinet.

His eyes snapped open with realization and an 'oh' escaped his lips, "Anything came to mind?" Scheris asked, curious at what information the crazy driver had to offer.

Cougar nodded a couple of times, smiling gleefully as he did so, "Now I remember why she hates me so much. Her name's Arabite. We used to be really close friends, before I went and got shipped off to the mainland. Haven't set my eyes on her once till this afternoon!" he nodded, smiling at the memory, "Ah, she never fails to impress me, that girl. Always hot tempered, but very soft once you get to know her. ...Come to think of it, I forgot what her Alter was..." he scratched the back of his head with his free hand, again frowning in a frail attempt to remember some more of the Native Alter's past.

It was only for a split second, but Scheris could see a pained look on the orange-haired Alter user's face. The look on his face disappeared as quickly as it had appeared where a smile made the blue-haired Alter user think twice about ever seeing that pained expression. He stood up, picking up his pink shades from the table and said, "Well, I guess I have just had enough of reminiscing. I'm gonna go get some shut-eye in case anyone's looking for me, okay?" he said cheerily, pocketing the little ornament and walking towards the elevator, waving at Scheris with his free hand, not even bothered to turn and look at her.

The minute he reached his room, he made a beeline for his bed and fell face-first on it. He was careful enough not to injure himself further! He spent a few good minutes just lying down motionless, but ended up rolling onto his back when he recalled the unpleasant meeting he had with the Native Alter that morning. He knew she meant something to him, but he just doesn't know what to say to her. Sure, she'll be questioned and all, but he was just wondering, if she joined HOLY and they became friends again,

Would he have the guts to tell her what he's going through? The thing's been bugging him ever since he came back from the mainland and it's been a weight on his chest that he can't just remove by himself. He wanted to tell someone, but he didn't want to burden them. He knew he could trust this old friend of his,

But would she be able to accept the news?

He dismissed the idea shortly and sighed, crossing his arms behind his head and deciding that he'd just keep it to himself a bit longer. After all, it was unlike him to ponder and feel bitter over what has already passed. It must be one of those days where people get so stressed out; they get into mood swings in the blink of an eye.

Birds flew past his window as he looked at the small winged creatures flap away into the distance freely, without a care in the world. He's heard some people saying things like he's as carefree as a bird, but he had his doubts. Was he really as carefree as people said he was? With all the refining that's been done to his body, he's not sure how much longer he has. A week? A day? An hour? It may even be just one more minute, for all he knows. It's like being attached to a time bomb, living like he currently was.

Oh well, he decided to live out the remaining time he has as a devoted HOLY member, so why turn back now? It's too unlike him to just quit halfway through something. Smiling to himself, he laughed the thoughts he had away quietly and turned over on his side to really get some rest. He's been working himself too hard...

'Arabite, or whatever your name was, it was nice seeing you again.'

Meanwhile

The Native Alter was now in her cell, waiting for her turn to be interrogated. She was lying in what would be a comfortable position, looking up at the gray ceiling above her. Her body finally succumbed to the fact that she was exhausted, and plus a bit of a 'wake-up' beating from Zetsuei, she was in no shape to actually climb onto the bed. Leaving that matter far in the depths of her mind, all she could think of was, 'So... Tired...'

She sighed and closed her eyes, letting fate take care of her. As her mind drifted off to the point of falling asleep, flashes of her younger days resurfaced, then the event this morning. Smiling to herself, she allowed a single tear to escape her. She was glad she could see him again after all this time.

"Cougar..." she mumbled, looking up at the ceiling again, "It's been too long, my friend... you have no idea how much I missed you..." as soon as she finished her sentence, she drifted off to sleep, her turn to be interrogated coming closer and closer...

Phuah...

Well, I can safely say the ending to Cougar's train of thoughts isn't very much to my liking... --;; I changed it several times over, but I guess I'll just settle down with the one I have up there. Oh, and about her name? Naturally, Cougar got it wrong. :P

If you wanna know what her name is, you'll all find out in the next chapter. Since it's school holiday, I may be uploading more. )

If you like it, do review. But if you so happen to not really like it and have some suggestions to spice up the story some more, please, by all means, send in your thoughts via reviews. After all,

Speed is power. The faster you review, the more ideas I get and the more chapters you can get out of me. )

Ciao! Till the next chapter!


	2. Face of an angel, soul of the devil

Fading – Chapter 2

-Tsubasa Aconite-

Hello people! I am so happy at the positive reviews I got!

Because I'm so happy, I'm making this chapter extra long for the first three people who kindly reviewed this story. YOU'D BETTER READ IT! XD

Keep reading y'all! Coz I'm gonna keep on typing up a storm for you all! 

Please review XD

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/HOLY HQ, underground prison/

A Dars unlocked the door to the Native Alter's cell, indicating that it was her turn. However, she was so caught up in her little catnap that she had to be shaken awake to finally bring her back to the harsh reality. It didn't take much effort; just let her yawn a couple of times, let her stretch, poke her a couple of times with their Alters to speed her up, and before they knew it, they were in that dark room with her sitting in the middle of the place in a wooden chair and facing a man who looked an awful lot like a judge to her.

The Dars unit was around her, preparing their Alters just in case she misbehaved. Oh well, for the time being, she wasn't in the mood to go and misbehave. In fact, she was rather hungry...

"NP3730, you were witnessed at the site and deliberately injured civilians, as well as members of our troops with your Alter..." the man didn't get to finish his sentence, as the prisoner pointed at his face and said,

"You've got broccoli stuck between your teeth."

The man's cheeks took on a shade of pink before he doubled over under the table to remove the darned vegetable. She sighed and sprawled herself out on the chair, "Alright, okay, so I did something wrong, and I'm here so I can apologize, right? Why don't we just get to the point? Since you guys didn't take me out right then and there, I owe my life to you guys, though I don't like the fact that I'm a prisoner... At any case, I'll join HOLY as compensation if that's quite alright with you. You guys got me fired from my previous job anyhow."

The man sitting at the high table seemed dumbfounded at her willingness. The woman simply looked up at the man and crossed one leg over the other, "Well? Do we have a deal or what? Hey, I may sound cheap, but everyone's gotta live somehow, right? I need the cash, you need the people. You pay me, I'll work."

Her questioner seemed to ponder for a minute before contacting someone via the communicator that was on the table. He spoke in a low voice so she couldn't hear him and at some points through his conversation, NP3730 could see the man looking surprised at what he was hearing, but concluded the chat with a simple, "Understood, sir."

She sat up a bit straighter, waiting for the man to say something. The 'judge' seemed to look uneasy, looking at her with a cross between amazement and disgust. His prisoner merely smiled innocently at him and he let out a sigh,

"NP3730, from this day forth..."

/Meanwhile/

"Cougar? Are you in there? Open up!" Asuka Tachibana said, knocking on the red-headed man's door repeatedly. Inside, the said man just woke up from his little nap, getting a bit of a headache from all the noise and somehow mistook them for his alarm clock, resulting in him rolling off his bed and landing on the floor with a rather painful 'thud'.

Asuka cringed at the sound, but before he could ask the man a second time and knock the door again, the door opened, revealing a groggy-looking Straight Cougar. However, even with the red-head looming over the smaller man, at the angle he was slouching and at the speed Asuka's hand was traveling, Cougar just couldn't avoid the little 'knock' on the nose, resulting in the poor, physically abused man to double over in pain, his eyes watering slightly.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright, Cougar-san?" Asuka crouched, trying to see if he could help the poor guy in any way possible. Cougar held up a hand in front of Asuka's face and said,

"I'm fine, just fine! I need a bit of space, if you don't mind..." Asuka backed off, allowing Cougar to regain his composure, "Okay, why were you knocking at my door just now?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"I was asleep."

"Oh. Well, anyway, Commander Zigmarl wants to see you in his office. He called for you around five minutes ago, so you'd better not keep him waiting any longer. That's all I got to say, see you later," the purple-haired young man said good-naturedly, waving at his companion briefly before walking off down the corridor.

Cougar waved back, being a good sport and felt kind of nervous, 'What did I do this time...? Surely nothing serious enough to get my ass whupped again by the Commander...' he shuddered at the thought, remembering the time where he took a certain Kiryu Mimori out for a ride without asking for permission...

'Can't be all that bad. Haven't done anything wrong for the past week anyway,' he thought to himself, taking out his shades and walking towards the Commander's office.

/At Commander Zigmarl's office/

"He's late, as usual," said the commander's female guest as she continued trying to make the skirt she was wearing appear longer. Heck, if she bent over, she could swear everyone around her would get a free look at her panties! She was wondering who the tailor was. If she knew, then whoever really was the tailor had better watch out...

The Commander smiled, his hands placed on his table as they waited (one patiently and the other impatiently) for Cougar to arrive. The door opened shortly, revealing the long-awaited man strolling into the office casually, and then standing up to his full height to greet the Commander, HOLY-style.

"Straight Cougar reporting, sir."

Commander Zigmarl nodded, "At ease. I called you here because we have a new recruit."

"Eh? Really? I must've missed the welcome party, then."

"We didn't have one. She didn't like the idea of being hailed about for such a trivial event. And so, I've decided to let her work with you, since she claims that she has known you for quite a long time."

Cougar was now feeling uneasy. For once, his stomach was doing scared flip-flops instead of his usual excited ones, "Uh... a woman, sir?"

The commander nodded, "She's seated right behind you."

The said woman stood up to her full height, the top of her head barely reaching Cougar's shoulder as she smirked at him, "Long time no see, Straight Cougar."

It was a nightmare come true, "Arabite!" he said as he looked at her from top to bottom in an attempt to see if he could have been mistaken in any way possible.

'Arabite's eyebrow twitched as she said, "It's Aconite! Tsubasa Aconite! Can't you even remember my name?" She held back the urge to practically maul the defenseless Alter user to oblivion at the sight of the painful bruise on his cheek and the bandage on his nose. She was wearing a really short skirt, to add to the list.

Cougar pulled an apologetic face, "Oh, sorry."

Their commander took all this as a sign that the two were getting along well and said, "Well, I see you two are getting along very well. Cougar, you may want to tour her around. That will be all, you two are dismissed."

With that said the two of them left the room with a rather awkward atmosphere between them. She said nothing, simply looking down at her feet and waiting for her companion to make a move, "...Well? Are we just going to stand around here all day?" she asked in a vain attempt to make her companion relax.

She can't blame him. She always did have a violent temper ever since they were kids, and Cougar, being her best friend would always be there to witness, or rather, FEEL the brunt end of her fury. Smiling, she placed a hand on his shoulder, where she could certainly feel him jerk away from the sudden contact.

"It's alright, relax, will you? It's not like I'm gonna bite you or eat you alive! As the Commander said, we're partners now. As your partner who has no sense of direction at all, I think a tour would be nice for starters," she smiled reassuringly at her 'long-lost' friend and it worked like a charm. The taller man relaxed under her grip and he replied by saying,

"That's good to hear... You never were the calm and collected type, but I never expected you to be here, working for people like HOLY!"

Aconite shrugged, "I was fired from my previous job because of my Alter. So, why don't I just work where I can use my Alter without having people criticize me? You did the same thing, didn't you? That was why you went to the city," she recalled, walking ahead of her guide and taking in the sights. Behind her, Cougar stopped in his tracks and looked down at his feet grimly.

His train of thoughts from earlier on came back to haunt him and for the second time, he shrugged it off again, deciding not to burden Aconite with the depressing news he had. His companion turned on her heel to look at him and said, "You're awfully quiet, aren't you? Surprised at how 10 years can change me? What happened to the firecracker Cougar I knew who wouldn't shut up unless I yell at him and beat some sense into him?" they both looked at each other with serious looks on their faces, but the little glaring competition was cut short when she giggled at the recollection.

Her laughter was contagious. Soon enough, the two of them were laughing at their childhood memories and somehow or rather, ended up at the cafeteria.

Aconite wiped a tear of joy that trickled out of the corner of her eye and said, when their laughter finally ceased, "Man... Those were some of the craziest days of our lives. Pity we didn't get to see each other very much. You were so active, always up and about that there's no telling when your energy will finally deplete."

Cougar countered this by saying, "And you on the other hand were so rebellious, when someone asks you to do something, you'd do exactly the opposite. Remember that certain day you were grounded and you went sneaking out of the house? You didn't come back for two days!"

She pouted, "Hey, at least I came back on the third day."

"Yeah, of course you did. You were just skin and bones by the time you knocked on the door," he recalled, chuckling.

Aconite looked around the cafeteria, feeling much better than how she first felt when set foot into the building. It may be an alien place to her, but when she's with Cougar, there's a homey feel to the place.

The table behind them had a very interesting occupant. Aconite stared as the person sitting at the table munched down slice after slice of watermelons and spitting out the seeds into a nearby wastepaper basket.

The tanned, flabby-bellied man noticed her looking at him and afraid that she may be psychic and had the ability to take away his watermelons via telekinesis, he swallowed the last of the red fruit and pulled the other slices closer to him protectively. That was when the unfamiliarity kicked in, "Hey, aren't you the new HOLY member everyone was talking about?" he asked, narrowing his already narrow eyes and making sure he got the right person.

Aconite was taken aback. People, talking about her? She smiled at the watermelon man and said, "That's me. I'm Tsubasa Aconite. What's yours?"

"Just call me Urizane. You want a slice?" he offered sweetly, but something in his tone didn't sound right to her...

"Before we know it, you'll be running around the HQ announcing that she stole your watermelon from right under your nose," Cougar said off-handedly, smirking at the glutton across of their table.

Urizane laughed, "You read my mind! It's good to know that someone with a fast Alter like you isn't so slow when it comes to brains!"

"Hey now, that was harsh!" Cougar exclaimed, pulling a hurt face.

"Whatever, I gotta finish my lunch soon then get back to work," as he said so, he began stuffing his face again.

Aconite grimaced at the mess he was making and turned to look at Cougar for an opinion. The orange-haired man shrugged, "You can say it..."

"...He's a total pig," Aconite said flatly, earning a nod from her companion. Just then, a raven-haired woman walked past Cougar from behind. For some reason, the minute Aconite saw the woman; she knew she wasn't going to like her one bit. Cougar noticed the frown and dislike on his friend's face, turned around, his eyes widened briefly and he faced Aconite,

"Uh, Aconite, I've got a little something to do. Can you find your own way back to your dorm?"

Aconite blinked a couple of times before saying, "...I think so. You know that I do have a horrible sense of direction. Can't you send me back?"

Cougar tapped his chin, "Well, uh... I guess not today. Anyway, I've got to go, alright?"

"...Okay then," Aconite eyed him suspiciously as he walked off.

The red-head heaved a sigh of relief when Aconite went and made her way back to the elevators. He could've sworn she frowned at the Alter scientist just now and whoever makes Aconite frown at them at first sight was bound to be in her line of fire. He looked around and found the person he was looking for. He walked up to her table and sat right across of her,

"Good afternoon, Miss Minori. Fancy meeting you here."

"It's Mimori," said his companion sternly, not liking the fact that he keeps on pronouncing her name wrongly.

Cougar laughed and shrugged the mistake off, "Right, sorry about that. So, how was your day? Hectic as usual?" he asked, flipping through the menu in front of him and realizing not long after that that he'd already eaten with Aconite.

"Nothing I can't handle, I'm sure," Mimori said calmly, waiting patiently for her food to come. After she finished her sentence, as usual, Cougar started rambling about random things and at one point was cut off by Scheris, who came by in a hurry,

"Cougar! It's an emergency! There's been an Alter breakout in a nearby Inner's town! I hear they've taken out one or two of the Dars unit!"

Cougar looked dumbfounded, "Why am I included?"

Scheris heaved an exasperated sigh, "We need to get there quick! Asuka's on the job, but he's outnumbered. Commander Zigmarl wants Ryuho, Urizane and Aconite on the spot and you're the only person who can send them there fast enough!"

"But..." he started.

"They're waiting at the car park," Scheris said quickly before turning on her heel and running off somewhere.

"...I'm sorry our meeting had to be cut short so rudely, Ms. Minori, (Mimori!) Sorry, my bad, but it seems that I've got something important to attend to. Till we meet again," he said amiably, slipping his shades on and went off to join the rest of the group at the car park.

-At the car park-

Aconite felt uneasy being stuck with these two Alter users. Urizane wasn't so bad, but he was getting watermelon juice and seeds flying all over the place, which wasn't actually a proper display of table manners. Then there was Ryuho; the very person who managed to defeat her Alter. Was it because his Alter wasn't the harmonizing type that he could beat hers?

Their eyes met for the briefest second and Aconite's heart skipped a beat. To her, earning a look in the eye by the person who defeated her was some sort of indication that she was worthy to be his opponent. In this case, she didn't like that look. It was almost as if she was being condemned.

'Cougar, you idiot... Where are you?' she thought to herself, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the car that was Cougar's.

As if on cue, the car she was leaning on broke to a billion pieces and reformed itself into some sort of neon pink racing car. Aconite was mildly surprised, but the thought of having the darned vehicle pink of all colors was giving her goose bumps; she never liked pink.

"Sorry I'm late," said the owner of the car, jogging over to his vehicle as the other three clambered in. Urizane refused to budge from the front seat, so Aconite was forced to sit in the back. With Ryuho.

The two crossed their arms and looked outside the window, finding the all too familiar scenes suddenly the most interesting things in the world rather than starting a conversation between them. The pink car sped out of the building at high speed and before they knew it, the Inner town was in sight. Not surprisingly, the fight was still on.

Aconite suddenly felt excited. She leant over to see the fight in full view, completely forgetting the state of her clothes and making Ryuho's cheeks as red as his eyes behind her, "Hey Cougar, step on it! I can't wait to beat some Alter ass!" she cried excitedly. Cougar had no problems obliging, although making his car go faster than it already was nearly made them run Asuka over.

The car skidded to a halt not very far from the battlefield, but Aconite was way ahead of them; she practically jumped out of the window to join in, "Hey bright-eyes! Need some help?" she called, referring to Asuka. The wounded Alter user looked at her uncertainly.

The Native Alters who were rebelling against them started attacking again; one of them, who wielded a huge cannon for an Alter, took aim at her running towards Asuka and fired.

She honestly didn't see the blow coming, but they didn't see her body glow, either. An explosion nearby made it almost clear that she was a goner to everyone within sight, and as the Native Alter laughed in glee at having defeated a HOLY member, holes appeared around the site of the explosion.

"Hey, it's not very nice to hit a lady when she isn't looking!" Aconite's unmistakable voice rang out from within the smokescreen. When the Native Alter opened fire again, something shot out of the cloud of dust and into the air.

It was like seeing an angel and a devil in the same body.

Aconite was airborne, her Alter attached to her back in the shape of wings; the right one snowy white, and the left one as black as the night. Two swords circled around her in a protective manner as she looked down at her opponents from high above, smirking at how helpless and clueless they looked.

"We aren't going down because of some HOLY bastards!" cried another female Native Alter, summoning an Alter that looked like a cross between an overgrown flower and a tank. It shot numerous thorns at the winged Alter user, which weren't even evaded. Her left wing emitted a deadly aura as she flapped it towards her assailant,

"BLACK WAVE!" she sent a powerful wave out of her Alter, in the shape of feathers that easily intercepted the thorns flying her way and with another wave of her white wing, she sent a similar attack pattern towards the cannon Alter, rendering both Native Alters useless in the blink of an eye.

However, she wasn't done yet. In the midst of battle, her blood was boiling. Their pitiful screams rang in her ears like music, "More..." she muttered to herself, taking hold of both her swords.

From below, Cougar saw what she was doing. His eyes widened before he broke his own car down to attach his Alter to his legs and dashed towards her at high speed just as she dove down to deliver the finishing blow to her opponents.

"SCREAM FOR ME!" she hollered gleefully, bringing her right arm down to slice her opponent in half. The sword never sliced her target. Instead, someone stepped on the blade, forcing it down into the ground. Surprised by the sudden interruption, it affected her flight and so, she was sent tumbling down, her Alter vanishing almost automatically as Cougar caught her before she went and broke her neck.

"Cougar, what was that for? I had them in my sights!" she screamed, trying in a vain attempt to wriggle free of Cougar's firm grip.

Her companion frowned at her as Ryuho and the others were finishing up behind them. She stopped retaliating the moment she saw the angry look in his eyes, "You knew what could have happened, didn't you?" Cougar said icily, it being the only way he could tame his friend.

Aconite looked down at her boots guiltily as Cougar put her down, "I could have killed them, I know..." she muttered, turning away from the red-head. Cougar sighed, removing his shades to rub his temples, "I'm sorry, alright? I couldn't help myself. It's been this way ever since I started being an assassin-for-hire. It was the only job I could find," she said slowly, feeling even guiltier by the minute. Even without having to look at him, she could feel Cougar's eyes burn into the back of her head.

She tensed up when she heard Cougar approaching her. She was expecting his usual 'knocking her on the head and call her an idiot' routine he used to do to her, but it never came. Instead, her face turned crimson when he gave her a one-armed hug from behind.

Somehow, the simple friendly gesture made her feel relaxed. The monster that's been eating her inside out, her Alter, seemed to have tamed down considerably. She brought her hands up to touch his arm, smiling to herself.

How she wished this could last forever. Her smile slowly faltered at the thought, how she wished he would feel the same way towards her the way she felt towards him. Her heart broke when she recalled how he looked at Kiryu Mimori that morning.

Cougar leant down and whispered in her ear, "Let's talk later. I'll meet you up in your room at 11," her heart skipped a beat when he said that but she felt a little disappointed when he released his grip on her. She turned to face him and saw him smiling at her cheerily, "You wanna join Ryuho and the slowpokes, or would you prefer me driving us back, the fast way?"

Aconite smiled devilishly, "Let's take it up to 300 km/h."

Cougar's car materialized behind him as he said, "Good! At least someone has the same interests I do! Hop on, it's gonna be a wild ride," he warned, slipping his shades back on.

Aconite clambered into the passenger seat and upon sitting down, her head spun. She pressed a hand to her forehead, which was warm and felt the whole world spin, 'No... Not again...'

"You know, I was really surprised at how powerful your Alter's grown. But I bet you were surprised out of your wits when you saw mine! Pretty impressive, huh? It took me forever to get to that stage and I was wondering where you trained yours..." he trailed off while he was driving, feeling rather uneasy at his companion's silence for once. He shot her a sideways glance and found her asleep, but her breathing was labored, as if she ran miles, and she was sweating like heck. Cougar reached over and touched her forehead, surprised at how hot it was against his skin and cursed under his breath before stepping on the gas,

"Aconite, stay with me! Hey!" he cried, hoping she would give some sort of response.

"...Cold..." it was all she muttered before she fell limp in her seat.

"Aconite!"

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(Gasps) What happened to the poor gal? Heheh, that's for me to know and you all to find out! Just for everyone's info, I finished this chap in a rush, (I caught the Cougar disease… ) so if there's anything wrong, like the storyline is a bit rushed one way or the other, do tell. I'll do whatever it is in my power to slow it down.

Chibi Cougar: I doubt that. Once you've caught the Cougar disease,

Chibi Cougar and me: Speed is power!

So, y'all just keep on reading and reviewing! I have more in store for you guys!

Ciao!


	3. Confused

Fading – chapter 3

-Confused-

Just for everyone's info, chapter 1 for this fic occurs during Episode 4 of the anime. I just figured the timeline out after watching the anime over again. O.O; The story will progress from that point on. That is, if you tune in on the anime COMPLETELY.

Heheh, I'm feeling really good, but I guess I ought to cut the words down. The previous chapter IS a bit too long, unless you readers out there had no objection to the overdose of words. XD

Please read and review. XD

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"I can't do this!" a little girl cried, sitting on the ground, all tired and sweaty. Tears were forming in her eyes. The brown-haired boy standing in front of her sighed and sat in front of her,

"Aconite, the more you say you can't, the more you'll never be able to make it. Everyone saw you using your Alter. I have one too, but I'm purposely using it so I can keep it under control. I'm trying to teach you how to keep yours under control," the boy said caringly, looking straight into his friend's eyes.

Aconite sobbed, rubbing her eyes in a frail attempt to stop her tears from flowing. Her companion reached over for his backpack, as if expecting this event to happen and fished a clean handkerchief out of it. He held it out to her, only to have her snatch it out of his grip and have her crying even louder. She didn't like being helpless, he knew that. He looked around, noting that the sky was growing darker by the minute as the sun started setting in the horizon.

"Aconite, it's getting late. Let's go back before your father gets worried again."

She sniffled, peeking from between her fingers to look at him, "Cougar, how can you stand being with a monster like me...?"

"You're no monster. I've seen people with worse tempers," Cougar said, smiling.

That made her feel a bit better, "Thanks, Cougar... ...Are we going home now?" she asked, looking up at the boy in front of her with large, purple eyes.

He nodded, "Yeah, we're going home now," he picked himself off the ground and dusted his trousers of dust when Aconite grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, which usually means she wants something out of him, "What?" he asked, looking down at the little girl, whose head was bowed.

"...I can't stand up..."

Well, it was to be expected. She's been trying to summon her Alter more than 20 times in a row, without success and she must've been totally exhausted. Cougar turned around and knelt down, offering her a piggyback. Aconite smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not to choke him and not long after that, they were on their way back.

Somewhere along the way, as Aconite was resting her head against Cougar's, she asked him, "Cougar, are you tired?"

"Why do you ask?" he countered, kicking a pebble out of his way.

Aconite shrugged, "I can hear you breathing. You're sweating, too," she said, lifting a hand to wipe the sweat off of his eyebrows.

The brown-haired boy smiled, "Ill be fine. Home's not that far from here anyway."

"Not that far? You make me walk to the outskirts of town everyday! If you're tired, you can put me down now!" she cried, feeling even more worried by the minute.

"Hey, hey, stop wriggling! You're gonna tire me out faster the more you move!" he said jokingly, but she knew he meant it. He just didn't want to make her feel bad. She stopped moving at that point but reached into her pocket for the handkerchief he gave her earlier on then reached around to wipe the sweat off his face.

Cougar smiled, "Thanks."

"It's the least I can do. I can't feel my legs," she said flatly, wrapping her arms around him, or rather, hugging him, "Hey, Cougar?" she started, whispering into his ear.

Cougar stopped briefly to catch his breath, "Yeah?"

Aconite smiled at the thought she had, "Nah... I won't tell you now... Someday, when we're all grown up, I'll tell you how much I... I..." she trailed off, the last few words she mentioned totally inaudible to him though her mouth was just inches away from his ear,

"...Aconite?" Cougar tried looking over his shoulder at her without knocking her literally off him and saw her sleeping soundly on him. He smiled at the sight and kept on going, walking back to that poor excuse of a town they call 'home'.

'...Someday, when we're all grown up, I'll tell you how much I love you...'

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Aconite woke up to the sound of tapping on her window. She opened one eye, closing it almost instantly at the sudden glare of the afternoon sun. She winced at the sudden pain, covering her already closed eyes with one hand. She opened them again, slowly this time and saw blurry images of some doves sitting at the windowsill, tapping at the glass with their beaks.

'It was a dream...' the doves spread their regal wings and flew away as she thought to herself. Realization struck her a few moments later that the surrounding was not at all familiar,

'...Where am I...?' she wondered, looking around the room. It looked like a ward to her, judging from the size of the room and the color scheming.

'How did I end up here...?" she tried to recall what had happened to her before she woke up in the ward and could only remember the little assignment she went for, the little moment she had with Cougar and the trip in his car. After that, everything went blank.

She glanced sideways at the side table, hoping there was a clock for her to tell the time. Instead of seeing the digital machine she was hoping to see, she saw a small note instead and attached to the note was a single pink rose. The note read,

'_Get well soon. You wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun, would you?_

_Straight Cougar '_

She smiled when she finished reading it. Speaking of 'fun', she recalled the splitting headache that forced her to succumb to darkness in Cougar's car. Her happiness seemed to falter at the thought. This has happened to her numerous times while she was still a Native Alter to the point that it became a hindrance to her. Though her Alter was considered what they call 'under-developed', the strength it possessed was enough to match a highly-trained Alter user in HOLY. However, that strength came with a price. Every time she used it, more and more of her consciousness was taken along with it.

This just couldn't go on. Her Alter, her wings that she called 'Oblivion', seemed to have a life of its own, acting as if it was a living entity that occupied her being every time she summoned it.

If this kept up, she probably wouldn't be the same anymore. She probably won't have her memories anymore. Her grip tightened around the note Cougar left her, the little thorns on the stem of the rose cutting into her palm as she did so.

'I don't want that...' she thought to herself firmly, feeling once again powerless to be born with a cursed Alter, "I don't want to forget..." she whispered to herself, feeling upset with herself to the point that she shed tears.

The door to her ward opened suddenly, making her look up to see who the newcomer was. It was Cougar, who just dropped in to check on her with a small basket of fruits.

"Ah, you're up! We were getting worried there, you know? You just suddenly blacked out like that and mind you, it wasn't funny! Your forehead was burning, but your body was like an ice cube. And that reminds me, Commander Zigmarl was impressed by your... WHAT have you been doing to yourself?" he suddenly cried, earning a confused look from her. She looked down at her hand, where the piercing pain she's been experiencing came from and released the note that she'd practically squished in her grip, drops of her blood staining her white sheets crimson.

Cougar sighed, "I just can't leave you for a minute, can I?" he said flippantly, pulling a chair for him to sit in and grabbing a tissue from the side table. Carefully and gently, he wiped her wounds and wrapped them with some bandages he found on the same table, probably forgotten by a nurse during one of her trips into the room. When he finally tied the ends of the bandage together, he looked up at her, "Hey now, you've been crying too! Really, is there something I need to know out of you?"

Aconite quickly wiped the tears off her face and mumbled, "It's nothing. I just... suddenly felt upset."

"Oh, usually that's a bad omen to some people. But, knowing you, I don't think you believe in superstition, do you?"

"Of course, I never do," she said with a forced smile. The thought she had earlier on still haunted her, and she didn't like it one bit.

At that point, Cougar seemed to have run out of things to talk about and asked, "You want an apple? I didn't come by with a basket of fruits for nothing, you know?"

Aconite, who had been daydreaming, snapped out of her trance and said, "Oh, uh... yeah, sure."

Cougar fished a small knife out of his pocket and took and apple out of the basket, "I'm not very good with the knife, so please, don't say anything about my handiwork."

His companion giggled at his sentence. It's been a long time since he heard her laugh like that. He started skinning the apple, careful not to cut his own fingers in the process as she looked at the birds that flew in the distance outside her window.

"Birds have always fascinated you, haven't they?" he suddenly asked, his gaze shifting over from Aconite to the apple in his hands, "Don't you feel lucky to have wings as your Alter?"

These words hit Aconite pretty hard. To tell the truth, she never liked her Alter. It caused a lot of pain and sadness to people around her. The voice that kept on speaking in the back of her mind was right; she just had the face of an angel, but she had the heart of a devil. Even those people whom she was hired to assassinate said the same thing to her with their dying breath.

If she was simply alone, she could take all the blame, she could carry the burden. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing after all, being re-united with Cougar. She felt weaker than she was before. She felt more powerless, almost as if she knew she could lower her guard when she was around him, engulfed in the kindness he had in the air about him. The thought alone reduced her to tears as she started sobbing, covering her face with her hands.

"H-hey! Are you alright?" Cougar asked, putting the apple and the knife down.

She didn't reply, she just sobbed something to him.

'_I wish I didn't have an Alter!'_

Unfortunately, he couldn't hear her. Before she knew it, a pair of strong arms were around her, and she had a shoulder to cry on. It made her feel a lot better, almost as if the weight on her chest was being heaved off of her.

"Shh... It's okay. Sorry if I said something to offend you," he said in an attempt to hush her. Cougar tensed up considerably when Aconite wrapped her arms around him, almost as if she was never going to let him go,

"C-Cougar... I... I...!" she started in between sobs, but their contact was cut short when two more visitors came in. It was Scheris and Mimori.

"Ah, you beat us to it again!" Scheris cried, referring to the fact that Cougar was the first to come and visit Aconite. Mimori followed close behind the blue-haired Alter user and the first thing they saw was Cougar skinning the neglected apple almost feverishly to the point that any wrong moves he made was prone to make him cut himself. Aconite on the other hand was lying down on the bed, giving her back to her three visitors.

"I guess I did," Cougar said, laughing nervously as he barely missed cutting his finger for the umpteenth time. Scheris sighed,

"Mou... you don't even know how to properly skin an apple. Give it here, I'll do it," she said sweetly, wrenching the little red fruit out of Cougar's grip and having a bit of a wrestle before she got the knife out of his other hand.

"You're Aconite, right? It's nice to meet you," Mimori said pleasantly, pulling another chair so she could see the patient (she sat across of Cougar so Aconite was facing her).

Aconite's eyes burned with hatred towards the woman for a second. She was lucky the mainlander didn't notice the flicker of anger, but even if she did, she can't do a thing about it because she doesn't have an Alter. Oh well, she doesn't mean any harm.

"Who are you?" she asked, almost unable to contain the hatred in her tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't gotten around to introducing myself, have I? I'm Kiryu Mimori. I'm an Alter scientist."

"So do you go around testing people like us as if we're guinea pigs?" her tone was completely void of emotion. It seemed to just slip past her lips. Mimori was taken aback by this. She searched the young woman's eyes for an answer, but those lavender orbs just looked at her emptily, almost lifelessly, "Well? Do you?"

Cougar had just about enough of this, "Aconite, that's enough!" he said, rising up from his seat. The copper-haired Alter user simply lay motionless in her bed, her back still facing the taller man. He couldn't see it, but her eyes widened with sadness when he raised his voice at her. What he did see was the surprised look on Mimori's face. His gaze dropped down to his boots before he said, "...I'm going out for a walk," nobody said anything when he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

The only action done by anyone at that moment was Aconite burying her face in her pillow. Scheris and Mimori couldn't tell what was wrong with her, but her whole body was trembling, almost as if she just saw the most terrifying thing in her life.

_'Don't leave me, Cougar...!'_

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Cougar had a book opened on his face (The Kestrel), one of which he wasn't reading. It was just resting on his face, as he leaned back in his seat, his head thrown back as if he was sleeping in the middle of reading and his pink shades were on the brink of falling off the top of his head at the moment, "Urizane, how would you cope with a stubborn little firecracker for a friend whose mood swings are so frequent you never know where you stand around them?"

The flabby-bellied man shot his red-headed companion a confused look and swallowed his food before replying, "I don't understand."

"Well, to put things simply; it's Aconite. She's been causing nothing but trouble ever since she came in and, well, for once I have no idea how to deal with her. Got any ideas on how to tame her?" Cougar asked again, removing the book from his head.

Urizane shrugged as he took another bite off the many slices of watermelon on the table, "Those kinda women usually have a lot of things on their minds. If they're open enough to you, they'll talk it out. But if they don't, you may have to persuade her to talk to you."

"What if she doesn't want to talk?"

"I dunno! Since when was I the lady expert, anyway? You're her long-term pal! Logically, I'd just give her some time to herself. Unless of course, you're the cause of her mood swings! She seems to like you a lot, why don't you just ask her? Who knows, she may spill everything and that'll be the end of your problems. End of story," Urizane finished and helped himself to another round of watermelons.

Cougar sighed and rested his head in his palm, placing his book down on the table, "You're right... Why'd I even bother asking you in the first place?"

The red-head took it as his cue to bolt out of the room when Urizane glared at him and the tanned man's body glowed with a spectral aura.

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Yeah! 3rd chapter done!

So far, I definitely think everything's going way too fast. (Heh!) So I may have to resort to dragging the story along. Don't worry, I'll include more characters in the coming chapters. I don't plan on making this a short story, anywho so I better start thinking of more stuff to write about!

You all can make contributions by giving me some ideas via your reviews. If you're lucky, I may pick one of them and put them up in one of the chapters. I may even add up one or more ideas into one chapter!

So if you all got something up in your minds, just give me a few points/ideas, and I'll be typing up a storm again.

Please review and...

Ciao!


	4. Black Oblivion, part 1

Fading – chapter 4

-Black Oblivion, Part 1-

Miao-miao! Its reached chapter 4!

Thanks very much to badluckfan and tomieharley for being there when I need inspiration and a little push. :-) This is to you, guys:-)

So happy, heheh. The story doesn't end this way folks, you'll see that there's always a way out of a dead end.

Enjoy!

Please review! I beg of you! (Prostrates to the readers) It's the only thing that drives me to type this story down!

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That night, Aconite was allowed back to her room, since she was now alright. She sat on her windowsill, almost like a bird would, enjoying the feel of the cold night breeze blowing her hair back and caressing her face softly. Smiling to herself, she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

As she looked at the city below her, she felt exhilarated; heights have always excited her. Cougar often commented that her coincidence of a name suited her well when they were kids. 'Tsubasa', a word that literally meant 'wings'. Sighing, she looked over her shoulder to see the digital clock she had on her bedside table. The time read 10.30 p.m.

'Oh well, that idiot never does come early. The earliest he gets would probably an hour after the promised time, in spite of the speed he has,' she thought to herself, hugging her knees up to her chest and shivered slightly. She had to admit; it WAS undeniably cold up where her room was.

Her mind drifted off, recalling yet another piece of her memories with Cougar. It was the day he left. He was eleven then, and she was only ten. Although he didn't say anything as he left for the city as a stowaway, she knew she wasn't going to see him much after that. She buried her head in her hands when she recalled the event the day before, when she was first taken into HOLY.

She made up the part about him writing letters to her. She just said it to make herself feel better. To her, Cougar was more than just a best friend. He was a lot of things; ranging from a teacher to a brother and just a few years back, her feelings for him made her see him as a lover.

She laughed mockingly to herself, "He'd never see me the same way... He'd never look at me the same way he looks at that Mimori woman..."

/Meanwhile/

Down the same corridor was Cougar's room. The occupant was inside, indulged in yet another book. Halfway through one of the pages, he looked up at the clock hung on his wall and saw that it was quarter to eleven. He never was one to be punctual, but seeing how his condition was, maybe being early for once wouldn't hurt. He picked himself out of his chair and slipped a bookmark into the book he previously read.

He walked over to his desk and looked at his shades. Normally, he'd say he's nothing without them, but for tonight, maybe it won't hurt to go without them. Sighing, he walked out of the room, locking the electronic door behind him as he started towards Aconite's room.

Along the way, he was surprised to find Mimori standing right across of him, in the other end of the corridor, walking his way. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her; she never failed to make him feel that way every time they met and it seemed that she hadn't seen him walking from the other direction until he greeted her,

"Good evening, Miss Minori."

She looked like she just saw a ghost when she heard him; if one could see ghosts, they could've seen her soul jump ten feet into the air before returning into her body. Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice and said, "Cougar! I... I wasn't expecting to see you here... and it's Mimori, for the umpteenth time."

Cougar smiled warmly at her, "Oh, sorry about that. I don't know what got into me. By the way, what are you doing here? Isn't your room in the lower floors?" he asked and noticed that her clothing was rather thin for the chilly night.

Mimori grabbed her pendant almost reflexively before answering, "Well... when you left the ward earlier this morning, I just thought that maybe Aconite was hurt by what you said and I thought I'd come by and check on her..." she said slowly, somewhat afraid to meet the red-head's calm, green eyes.

He averted his gaze to the wall opposite of him as he recalled the event where he raised his voice at the copper-haired Alter user. Well, yeah, he felt a bit bad about it, but he wouldn't just let someone talk that way to his Mimori.

'Not even an old friend?' a voice at the back of his head nudged.

He just shook it off mentally, 'Not even an old friend.'

"What are you doing here, Cougar? Don't you have anything else to do?" Mimori asked, leaning against the cold wall in spite of her thin clothing which comprised of a pink, long-sleeved blouse and a long black skirt with matching black shoes.

"I'm just taking a stroll. Maybe visit Aconite for a minute or two. She gets lonely pretty easily," he said with a smile. Mimori looked at Aconite's door, which was just a few meters away from them,

"Well, I'm going in. Are you?" she asked, motioning towards the door. Cougar looked at it for a minute before replying,

"Sure."

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_-Aconite-_

There was a knock on the door and I woke up. Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I saw that it was five minutes to eleven. Can it be? I got up instantly and grabbed a jacket to cover my cold arms as I have been sleeping on the windowsill where miraculously, I didn't fall over sideways and plunge down to my death...

Ah, heck, who cares? He's here! Feeling excited I went over and opened the door to be greeted by my best friend's tall frame right in front of me. I couldn't help but hug him out of habit; it was something I used to do before, with the exception that I didn't tackle him down to the ground like I used to when we were kids.

He tensed up again in my grip; it was natural, I guess. I mean, I haven't seen him at all for 10 years! How would you feel if someone you haven't gotten used to just suddenly went up to you and hugged you?

"I thought you'd never come," I said, letting him go and punching him playfully on the shoulder. I was all smiles until I saw the person he was with.

Kiryu Mimori. Why was she here? The whole world must've been able to see my surprised expression, because she did. She has my Cougar already, what more does she want? I stood up stiffly and said, "Kiryu-san," just to acknowledge her. You know what they say; first impressions are the most important...

And I don't think my first impression is at all good. I don't like that woman! Realizing that they were still at my doorway, I stepped aside and invited them in, "It's pretty chilly out there. Come on in."

I closed the door behind them and allowed them to take a seat while I went and made some tea. I wasn't very good when it comes to making things for guests, but I was just trying to be nice. You can't blame a girl for trying, can you? I could hear my two visitors having a one-sided lively conversation (Cougar was doing most of the talking) while I took out some cookies from the small fridge I had in my room.

Placing them on a tray, I went over to where my guests were and placed it on a small table I'd kept in one corner of my room, "It's not much, but I hope you're okay with just tea and cookies so late at night."

They both said it was more than just okay so I just plastered a smile at them, especially to that scientist woman. What did she have that Cougar liked so much? What was it that I lacked? I went and resumed my seat at my windowsill, looking out into the distance,

"So, what did you two come for?" I asked, without even bothering to look at them.

Cougar answered, which made me turn to listen to what he said, "We just thought you'd like some company. Miss Minori (Mimori!) thought you were a bit lonely, so we thought we'd drop by to keep you company."

My head throbbed suddenly, 'He's lying... he doesn't even want to see you,' growled a voice deep in the dark corners of my mind. My Alter was up again. My dark side, I'd like to call her. I just smiled at him, but my eyes weren't focused on, him; I was too busy looking at my hands.

I know I've been nothing but a nuisance ever since I got here, but I just can't help it. Everyone else had an Alter they could control easily, why won't mine even listen to me? Every time I close my eyes, I can see a glimpse of Oblivion, my Alter, smirking at me. And every time, I'd hear her whisper,

'You're a fool, Aconite. You always were since the day we became one.'

Now, she was up to something. I held both sides of my head, clearly in pain. I must have cried out because I could hear both Cougar and Mimori coming towards me...

"Don't come near me..." I tried to say, but they couldn't hear me.

'That's right Aconite... Go to sleep. I'll take over for you. That hatred in your very soul is just what I need...' For a split second, I could actually _feel_ Oblivion running her hand down the side of my face. She felt so cold, like death itself.

After that, I couldn't remember any more. All I could recall before everything went black were black feathers. Ink-black, like shadows that have come alive...

-_End of POV_-

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Yes, I know what I said in the summary... this DOES look more like its leaning on Aconite's history and more about her, doesn't it? Well, I need to. After all, I'm planning a sort-of remake of the anime. Let the readers understand her, understand her Alter, how she deals with it, and once she's alright by herself, things'll spice up, I promise. If it doesn't, you all have the right to flame this fic the hardest you can. ;;

Just so everyone knows, I don't plan on giving a limit of words for every chapter. Some may be long, some may be short, but rest assured, I won't be writing long chapters for quite some time.

Oh, and just a fair warning to everyone, I just got a good idea from my cousin and I decided to go with it. There will be two alternate endings to this story and when the final chapter is to be posted, I'll be putting up both at once. Till then, do tell me which one of the two endings you all prefer. ;;

Ciao!


	5. Black Oblivion, part 2

Fading – Chapter 5

-Black Oblivion, Part 2-

Really sorry for the late upload. I have exams and writer's block as an obstruction. Not to worry, I'm not dead so you can at least be nice enough to give me a second chance and continue reading...

Read n Review if you think this chapter deserves it. 3

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Several holes appeared around Aconite as she cried out in pain, clutching both sides of her head as she curled up, on the narrow windowsill in an attempt to stop the throbbing pain, "Aconite!" Cougar called and was just in time to grab Mimori's wrist before she touched the girl. Something was wrong. The woman on the windowsill wasn't Aconite.

Both her magnificent wings appeared before their eyes once more, as did her two swords, where her cries subsided. Her lips curled up into a cruel smile as she giggled, both her hands falling to her sides. Streaks of black appeared in her hair when her swords suddenly dissipated, absorbed into her white wing and tainting its snowy surface black as her left wing was. She looked up at the two; her once purple eyes now tainted red as if a drop of blood entered her eyes.

Cougar pulled Mimori behind him, extending one arm protectively in front of her to prevent the scientist from going anywhere near Aconite in her current state.

"My, my... So you ARE as fine as how Aconite described you..." she purred as 'Aconite' eyed Cougar from head to toe. She looked at Mimori, who was hiding behind the red-head, "And thanks to you, I am here right now," she said darkly, standing in a slouched position on the windowsill.

"Snap out of it, Aconite! What's wrong with you?" Cougar asked, not daring to take a step closer. 'Aconite' laughed at this,

"Are you still convinced that I am that silly little girl? Well then, I suggest you open up your ears and listen to me, COUGAR, "she said in a sickeningly sweet tone, emphasizing every syllable of his name, "I am Oblivion! Aconite's Alter. But, I'm not just any Alter, I'm her alter ego as well," she laughed at her own joke, which was in fact the truth and continued, pointing at Mimori,

"You're in the way. Shall I just dispose of you before I even out the score between Aconite and her beloved Cougar?" she said acidly, making sure to make Cougar as angry as possible. As she expected, the table in front of him dissipated, quickly forming his Alter which wrapped itself around his legs. Without warning, the red-head attempted to kick her inside the room, where Oblivion merely leaned back and allowed herself to fall.

Cougar cursed under his breath and leant out the window to see where she was. She was still falling, but at one point, she spread her wings as widely as she could and began to gain altitude as she flew up, stopping at her own window with her face merely inches away from Cougar's, "Outskirts of town, the deserted Inner town. I've got a lot of things you'd like to hear and you've got ten minutes..." she sneered, almost as if she was tempting Cougar to jump out the window.

He didn't, of course. He merely growled at the devil before him as she called, "I'll be waiting, Cougar! Aconite will be disappointed if you don't turn up... Ha, ha, ha, ha!" she laughed and flew off into the distance, towards the place she promised to meet him.

Strings of colorful swear words escaped the red-headed Alter user as he fought the urge to just lash out at anything within reach but mentally counted to ten and heaved a heavy sigh as his Alter disappeared.

"What... just happened...?" Mimori breathed out, sitting down on Aconite's bed so she could get a better perspective of what just happened. Cougar turned around and headed for the door, "Cougar, where are you going?"

"To the deserted Inner town. She's not taking 'no' for an answer, I suppose," he replied as normally as he could, although some traces of anger could still be heard.

Mimori looked down at her hands, "You're not going to kill her, are you?"

Cougar froze as the door opened. He sighed and decided to just tell her what he had in mind, "That woman wasn't Aconite. As she said, her name was Oblivion. She came here with the intention of hurting you and me. Seeing that you don't have an Alter, I think she's purposely challenging me so she could just see you go all worried. Besides, she's everything Aconite isn't, so I may just be able to knock her back to her senses without having to hurt her too severely," he looked over his shoulder at the raven-haired woman he'd fallen for and said before leaving, "I'll make sure we both come back safe and sound."

Mimori looked up at Cougar at this. He smiled at her and said, "I won't want to see you being depressed over either one of us now, would I? I'm off then," with that said, he started off towards the elevators to get to the ground floor and in a matter of minutes, Radical Good Speed was zooming off into the distance at high speed, towards Oblivion's 'perching ground'.

From the window of Aconite's dorm, Mimori looked on as the pink car sped off, "Be safe, you two..."

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Oblivion sat atop a broken cable pole, her knees drawn in to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees and her wings covering her protectively. Her eyes were shut as she smiled, "Are you awake, Aconite?" she said to herself, not once did she open her eyes.

'Oblivion... Oblivion, what are you doing! Why am I here?' Aconite cried, trapped within her own body, by her own Alter.

The black-winged angel giggled and opened her eyes, "Do you really want to know?"

Aconite fell silent, "I'll just tell you anyway... I challenged your little sweetheart into a match."

'What! Why?'

"I want to see..."

The headlight of a racing car was now drawing closer to her...

"...if this man is worthy enough..."

The car was coming closer now; she could see its streamlined shape coming her way...

"...worthy enough for you to suffer over!" She stood up, her wings spread as if ready for flight, "You've compressed your hatred away from me for so long, your heart is clearly bleeding, Aconite! All those years you long to see him, all those times you spent crying by yourself over him, and these two days your heart practically shattered at the knowledge that he's fallen for someone else!" Oblivion jumped away just as the car crashed into the cable pole. The driver wasn't in the driver's seat and this surprised Oblivion greatly; the owner of the Alter was in mid-air, with her!

"Shocking First Bullet!" he swung his leg at her, in an attempt to knock her down. The kick never intercepted her squarely; her right wing covered her like a shield and with a mighty flap from the same wing, she threw him a few feet backwards, where the acrobatic man landed safely on his feet.

Oblivion smirked, "Controlling his car from afar so I'd be caught off guard... Smart. Sorry Aconite, but you yourself know that I'll only disappear when I've used up all that hatred you'd built up so I won't awaken."

Aconite gasped and Oblivion laughed at her master's blunder, "Don't worry honey, I'll try my best not to pulverize him beyond recognition..." She landed on a nearby ruin and raised both arms on either sides of her body, her wings glowing purple, "Black Rain!"

The aura escaped from her wings and formed numerous black feathers above Cougar's head, nearly covering what little light the moon had to offer and just as Cougar realized what he was in for, the feathers came raining down on him like a hail of knives descending from the heavens.

With his speed, this was nothing for Cougar. Even so, he sustained a few cuts from the assault that came one after the other. The attack stopped soon enough, but then he didn't notice Oblivion standing right behind him and whispering in his ears,

"Would you like to know something, Cougar?" this came as a surprise to him as he swung his leg at her once more out of reflex. Oblivion didn't take his reflexes into account so not surprisingly; she took the hit squarely and skidded across the ground painfully.

She picked herself up from the ground, using her wings as support and re-allocated her dislocated arm. Smirking, Oblivion started talking, much to her master's dismay, "I bet Aconite never told you this before; but I am an unstable Alter. In other words, Aconite and I can't synchronize well inside just one body. We don't have much time left, unless we are able to balance ourselves. But at this rate, it's impossible."

Cougar looked surprised at this; this was a new case of an unstable Alter. Oblivion giggled at the look on his face, "But I'm not disappointed. I don't need to. After all, my only purpose to exist as Aconite's Alter is to fight!" she flew up to him and twisted her body in the air to kick him in the face, but Cougar was naturally faster; he caught her leg and pulled her down towards the ground where she lost her balance, and that was where Cougar hugged her from behind, locking her wings behind her so she wouldn't be able to fly away anymore.

Blood rushed to Oblivion's cheeks when this happened. She knew it wasn't her who just blushed, but it was very evident on her pale skin. She struggled in his surprisingly strong grip, crying out in a fit of desperate rage, "Let me go, you bastard! Once I free my wings, you'll be sorry!"

Cougar smiled at her cries. He let his forehead rest on the back of her head as he said, "Well, let's call ourselves even, shall we?"

"I haven't lost a thing, now release me!" again, Oblivion tried to free her wings, but to no avail.

"I won't talk unless you quiet down."

"Why should I? All I care about is to beat you!"

"Really? Is that really you talking? Or is that simply blind rage getting in over your head?" Cougar countered, holding her closer still.

Oblivion's face turned crimson in embarrassment, "A-Are you saying that I'm merely shouting empty threats!" she hollered.

"I don't know, what do you think?" her captor said playfully, smiling to himself. Her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink, if it was at all possible in her current state.

She gave up. Without the free mobility of her wings, she couldn't do anything. She could still use a few moves, but she risked hurting herself, which she didn't want. Oblivion heaved a sigh and fell limp, tired of struggling, "Alright, you tired me out. Congratulations," she said dryly, taking note that her feet were dangling a few good inches off the ground due to her 'enemy's height.

"That's a good girl. Now let's see... Where do I start?"

Oblivion huffed, a smirk playing on her lips, "How's about letting me go? Birds don't like being trapped."

He ignored her at this point, "When I said we were even, I meant it. I know you're listening Aconite, and I hope the two of you understand. I'm a dying man."

Both Oblivion, who controlled Aconite's body and Aconite herself, who was within her own body, stiffened at the news.

'What...? Cougar... Why... H-How...?' Aconite whispered in disbelief. Oblivion said nothing. She simply waited for the man behind her to continue.

"When I vanished ten years ago, it was because I went to the city with your father, who wanted to search for a job. That was why he left you at the orphanage. Because he had no money to feed you and he took me along because he was getting too old. He hoped I would take care of you for him."

Tears streamed down Oblivion's face at this point. It wasn't hers as she kept on listening silently.

"Your father's business wasn't very successful. Because I had an Alter, I was hunted down by scientists from the mainland. Back then, there was no HOLY. There was no place we Native Alters could run to. I ended up getting shipped off to the mainland with quite a number of Native Alters from the Lost Ground. Thankfully, they didn't get to you..." Cougar looked up into the dark sky as he paused for breath.

Oblivion waited, "Then? What happened to you?"

"Whose question was that?" Cougar asked amiably, knowing that there were two people in the lithe body he held.

"It doesn't matter, just go on!" Oblivion snapped, growing impatient.

Cougar chuckled in amusement, "Okay then... Where was I? Ah, right... When they were analyzing our powers one by one, I held back on my turn, hoping I would get sent back if I were too weak. It just wasn't my lucky day... I was refined."

Both Oblivion and Aconite gasped at this. Aconite has heard of it before, but she never expected her best friend to be one of those refined Alter users.

"My powers were forcefully increased through the process. Miraculously, I survived through those days of torture. But the side effect will kill me soon enough. My lifespan was severely shortened. It may be in a few more years, maybe even in a few more minutes... Whatever it is; my end is coming closer with every breath I take," he closed his eyes, and then rested his head on her shoulder, his Alter now dissipated into the air.

Without him noticing, his 'prisoner's right wing turned white again; Oblivion refused to stay any longer. She didn't leave without a trace; in fact, the fresh tears on Aconite's face were hers. She raised her hands the highest they could go and touched his arms, which were still wound around her as she cried.

Cougar took this as her being back to normal so he released her. Upon her release, she spun around and buried her face into his chest, pounding her fist weakly on his chest, crying in between sobs, "Why didn't you tell me...?"

Her cries grew louder as she no longer pounded him but instead vented out her frustration by simply crying. Cougar wrapped his arms around her once more and said, "I didn't want you to be involved in this."

They were soon on their way back to the city, in Cougar's car. Aconite's Alter had disappeared a few minutes ago, and neither of them said anything during the ride. Until Cougar asked her a question that caught her completely off guard, "Oblivion mentioned that you two weren't synchronized and that if you two keep on going unsynchronized, you'll end up like me, right?"

Aconite nodded slowly, her tomboyish front returning to her, "Yeah, what about it?"

"If we can find a way for the two of you to be synchronized, you should be fine then, since that power does originate from you."

Somewhere in the depths of her mind, Oblivion slapped herself on the forehead, 'Why didn't we think of that?'

Aconite smiled, "It's possible. But Oblivion and I just can't see things eye to eye. It's gonna take a lot of work on both sides."

"You can have a brighter future than mine, Aconite, work on it," Cougar said brightly, speeding up. Aconite smiled sadly at this; she wished there was something she could do to help him.

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Heh, finished the 5th chap. I told you it isn't as long as the 2nd chapter! O.O

I'm trying my best to shorten the chapters and put in as much info as possible and wherever possible, I'll be merging in scenes from the anime with this story. Hey, who knows; Cougar's fate MAY change. I make up stuff as I go, so there's no telling what will come out. Just keep reading to find out.

Ciao!


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